Engineering, Economics & Coffee

Gaming Science

Ever wish you could dabble in some microbiology? (h/t MSNBC) An intriguing new game from Carnegie Mellon University called EteRNA lets you design your own RNA sequences. I think it's especially cool that it appears to be intentionally aimed at non-scientists. Probably if you work with RNA for a living this will be less appealing to you. But if you'd like to improve your understanding of RNA and have an interest in biology and science this might just be your bag.

Wikipedia informs me some viruses use RNA instead of DNA as their genetic material which was how I first learned about RNA at an old job I've mine. I know you scientists are wondering what they teach kids in high school biology these days. I'll guess I'll say not much that it took an odd job for me to be exposed to it, or at least to the point where I remembered vaguely what it was. So hopefully that's one effect of games like this: exposing more non-scientists to theories and concepts in a fun and colorful way. Enjoy!